Is today the day for the USA?

Since next to no one is giving the United States a chance against Spain, there are two ways to look at this afternoon's contest.

1. Michelle Kaufman's take, in that since the Americans only reached the semis by a miraculous confluence of events, has nothing to lose.

Or 2. The United States is a wildly inconsistent team that, if it gets hammered today as expected, would in retrospect proved nothing over the last week. Sure, the win against Egypt earned the men's national team two more games (the group will either play in the Confederations Cup final or third-place match), but one good performance against Egypt would be overshadowed if the team lays an egg against Italy, Brazil and then Spain.

I lean toward the latter view. Of course, if the Americans beat Spain, then it is arguably the greatest upset in the nation's history.

I'll be liveblogging in this very space, beginning at 2:15 p.m. Of course, you can follow along here, too.